Intense but dark read. As someone who has read a lot of thrillers lately, it was interesting to consider what happens after the fact.

This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting. But give it a shot if you enjoy thrillers.

"Eden" is the coming-of-age story of Hope, although it's been 20 years since she was a kid.

Hope, a figment of author Andrea Kleine's vivid imagination, was abducted, along with her old sister Eden, by a stranger as they waited for their divorced dad at a desolate bus stop. Now, 20 years later, the kidnapper is up for parole, and officials want Hope and Eden to help keep him in prison. The only problem is that Hope hasn't seen her sister in many, many years.

Thus begins Hope's quest to find her sister, or learn what happened to her, despite Eden's desire to disappear. As Hope travels from hippie camps to big cities, she's forced to acknowledge truths not only about her sister, but about herself as well. In the end, as Hope painfully discovers, the only one you can depend on is yourself.

By the way, I wouldn't be surprised to see this adapted someday for the big screen!

Andrea Kleine is a very gifted storyteller. She manages to capture the thought process that goes on in your mind so well. The moments when your alone and you only have yourself and your mind goes off in a million different directions. Her characters are brutally honest, it was almost painful to read. I definitely related to them.

Hope and her sister Eden wait for their father to pick them up from the bus station, but he doesn’t show. Meanwhile, Larry appears stating that he is a friend of their fathers and that he’s arranged to pick them up. The two girls are abducted. Twenty years later, Larry is up for parole. The District Attorney wants to know if Eden has any other information that would help keep this man locked away. So begins Hope’s journey across the country looking for her elusive sister while facing her childhood trauma. This novel is more about the journey than the answer.

There is nothing I really enjoyed about Eden. I finished it to find out whether Hope would find her sister, but I neither enjoyed the journey nor the story's resolution. The whole thing is too esoteric for my tastes. The writing is stark; normally I do not mind that type of writing. In this though, it only serves to highlight the philosophical discussions of which there are many. Hope is a prickly character; her tragic backstory gains your sympathy but her behavior and attitude after that push you away from wanting to care about her. I never found myself drawn into the story, which means I was never able to shut off the critical part of my brain.

The thing is that there is nothing that ruins a novel for me faster than philosophy and dialogue that reads like a textbook. I can never convince myself that people talk like that to friends outside of a classroom. Plus, I do not enjoy having such discussions passed as part of the story. In her search to find Eden, Hope discusses guilt, gender roles, adulthood, art for art's sake, desire, fame, identity, and so much more. Every discussion had me checking to see how long it was because I wanted to know how long I would have to suffer. Readers who actually enjoy these types of conversations in novels, in which all parties sound like philosophy professors, will get much more out of Eden than I ever could.

Outside of these character development sessions where Hope makes another life discovery, nothing really happens. Most of the novel set in the present day is long sections of dialogue, either internalized or with a side character, followed by a brief section where Hope travels to another area in her search for her sister. In between those chapters are flashbacks to Hope's memories of their abduction, how it came to pass, and what happened in her experience. It helps fill the gaps and provide a greater understanding of the hidden reasons behind some of Hope's behavior. In my callous mind, however, this understanding does not explain all of her behavior. Between the overly lengthy discussions of ideas about which I am not interested in reading and the lack of anything major happening, I found myself thoroughly bored.

The reason I stayed with the novel is Eden. Hope's memories of her make her out to be quite the free spirit. If Hope is the heart of the two sisters, Eden is the soul. We see her through Hope's eyes doing whatever she wants without a care of how her behavior affects her family. She is the spark of this arcane novel, and I so desperately wanted to meet her. Unfortunately, when we do, even that is a disappointment, and I was left wondering why I bothered.

Suffice it to say, Eden is not my type of novel. I did skim the last half of it but obviously, that was not enough to improve the situation. While I never regret anything I read, there is the understanding that I could have DNFed this one or even have skipped it entirely without having any impact on my mind or soul. In fact, doing so just might have saved me some frustration at the lack of action, at the incessant philosophy, at the ridiculous-sounding dialogue, at the disappointing reunion, and pretty much every other aspect of the novel.

Eden is a clear-eyed, engaging meditation on how the aftermath of trauma shapes the lives of two sisters who were kidnapped and held hostage for two days as teenagers. The story picks up twenty years after the event, and follows one of the sisters, Hope, as she navigates life in New York as a failing playwright, before she decides to finally get in touch with her sister Eden after years of estrangement.

Andrea Kleine’s writing is sharp and compelling; I never wanted to put this down when I was reading it. The plot is steady and engaging as it follows Hope’s road trip where she confronts a series of figures from her past in an effort to track down her sister, but where this book really shines is in its nuanced exploration of trauma, and the ways in which we allow our past to shape our present. It all sounds a bit trite, but I thought this book was anything but. It’s frank and candid, but the characters themselves are each layered and their relationship between the two sisters is both intriguing and painfully realistic.

The only thing I didn’t love about this book was some of the dialogue. It wasn’t uncommon for a paragraph of dialogue to span several pages, since a lot of these characters seemed to speak only in monologues. It stretched my suspension of disbelief just a bit that so many unrelated characters would speak in such a similar manner. Obviously it was a stylistic decision from Kleine – having each of these characters confront Hope so directly once she’s finally ready to dig into her past and the role each of them played – but the conversations themselves could have been executed more naturally, I felt.

But I did love this, for its candid tone and surprisingly thorough exploration of difficult themes, and its delightfully ambiguous ending which I found both satisfying and thought-provoking.

Thank you to Netgalley, Houghton Mifflin, and Andrea Kleine for the advanced copy provided in exchange for an honest review.

This book... this book was something. Eden is a very well written book. I liked the author's style and the overall story itself was interesting enough to keep my turning the pages. There was just something that just didn't make me love it.

I think I was expecting a mystery or thriller type of book and I was wrong in that assumption. This reads more like a memoir, the "whats happens after" a thriller.

This story is also a very choppy read. There are characters thrown in here and there. The backstories of these characters were less than interesting and not even relevant to the overall story. I wanted to get back to the "meat" and quit filling my reading time with "side dishes".

Overall, this was just an okay read for me. It was quick, yet really slow paced. I mainly read to find out what exactly happened to the girls when they were kidnapped. Then I did get to the end and wasn't "wowed" or even fulfilled. There was just something missing to this novel. I am not quite sure what.

"Eden" by Andrea Kleine is available now. It was a 3 star read in my opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for allowing me a copy to read and give my honest review.

It’s possible there is subtext to Eden that I missed, but when the novel ended I was left with a feeling of ‘Really?’. I’m not sure what author Andrea Kleine was trying to achieve with this story about two sisters, Hope and Eden, who were kidnapped when they were teens. They escaped from their kidnapper after a week, but their lives were never the same. Eden went to a boarding school, graduated early, and went to live on a commune. After that she disappeared. The novel is set in the present with Hope, as a flailing playwright, setting off to find Eden.

I’ve come to believe that, in fiction at least, the people looking for a missing person, are more messed up than the person who disappeared. The searcher tends to have a lot of psychological baggage and this plays out in an aimless life, failed relationships, and no security. This is certainly true in Eden and was compounded by an ending that brought no real resolution. Kleine only alludes to what happened to Hope and eden, which is fine. I don’t need graphic details, but she does so in a way that makes it seem as if it was no big deal, nothing with lasting impact. Except that Hope is clearly lost. It felt coy and robbed the novel of the emotion needed to sustain interest. In order for me to stay engaged in novels like this the journey and the searcher have to have some kind of meaning.

This book wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be. It had a great concept and plot with a good character development but it wasn’t that engaging to me. I just couldn’t get into this book which is why I am giving it only 2 stars. I see I am in the minority with this one as so many gave it 4-5 stars but it’s just not the book for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book for my honest review.

My Thoughts: From the very start of Eden the reader learns that sisters Eden and Hope were kidnapped as teenagers. What we don’t know is what happened to them in the time they were held captive. We know that many years later Hope is a struggling playwright and Eden is estranged from her entire family. Despite the title of this book, the story is really Hope’s. Hope narrates, unveiling her story, past and present, as she embarks on a search to find her sister.

Like Abbott, Andrea Kleine dropped just enough hints to keep me wanting more. We learn the kidnapper, Larry, has been in prison for over twenty year, yet are left wondering exactly what he did. We know Hope managed to piece together a life, but know little about Eden. We know both girls were left forever damaged.

“I hated that kind of resolution. Everything is not all right in the end. In the end, your bruises become scars and they make you who you are. This kind of erasure of the past as therapy disturbed me. It angered me. My trauma was my trauma. Larry was mine. He was mine and Eden’s.”

When Kleine stuck to the story of Hope and Eden, I was completely engaged and wanting more. Unfortunately, other parts were a little too rambling. There were an add assortment of side characters sprinkled throughout the book and though most were important to the storyline, their backstories weren’t. I’d have enjoyed Eden more had these been shorter or fewer and had Kleine given a little more attention to Eden and Hope. For me, Eden was just dark enough and wandered smoothly enough to keep me engaged, but in the end didn’t quite wow me. Grade: C+

Note: I received a copy of this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review. Thank you!

I found the story, Eden, and the way Andrea Kleine chose to have us experience it through a series of flashbacks, very intriguing. Although it moved rather slowly in the beginning, the farther you got into the story and Hope & Eden's tragedy I felt the pace was just as it needed to be.
This is the first of Andrea Kleine's books that I have read and am now wanting to read Calf & eagerly await her next offerings

This novel about a young woman with a traumatic past looking for her emotionally and physically distant sister was fast and compelling. I could hardly put it down. I only wish it were longer and dived a little deeper into some of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Andrea Harcourt for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Eden tells the story of two siblings, Eden and Hope, and how a traumatic event has shaped them, and their relationship, for their entire lives. Hope is unsuccessful and not satisfied with her life and is desperate to find her estranged sister Eden who left the family after the girls' kidnapping. Eden is ultimately a story about finding oneself and finding peace after an awful event along with the strength to not only carry on but thrive.

After reading Eden by Andrea Kleine I can see why so many people have been talking about it and why I had heard enough about it for it to be added to my Best Books of July 2018 list. It is by no means an easy read as it deals with sensitive issues but Kleine does so in a thoughtful way. It is very cleverly written and it is easy to see why everyone is talking about it.

Every other weekend since their parents divorce Hope and Eden wait for their dad to pick them up. Only this weekend he’s forgotten, and their world changes when a stranger lures them into his truck.

More than 20 years later Hope is a failed playwright, newly evicted from her sublet apartment and is working as a temp yet again. Then her mother dies, and she is contacted by a DA informing her that the stranger is up for parole. This prompts her to try and find the estranged Eden but what if she doesn’t want to be found?

“It was so embarrassing to take the bus, but it was doubly embarrassing to hand the driver a coupon that had been cut out of the back of a Cheerios box.”

When Hope’s parents first divorced when she was 10 and she and her half sister Eden were picked up by their reluctant father until he discovers the coupons meaning he no longer has to make the ninety minute drive. If their dad isn’t there when they arrive they wait inside the station.

On this particular occasion, their father didn’t arrive, but Eden refused to call their dad and he still hadn’t arrived when it began to get dark.

“The whole thing played out like the script they read you in school about how you shouldn’t get into a stranger’s car, even if he offers you icecream, even if he says he’s a friend of your dads. Larry probably sensed this, because he said, ‘I met you before but you were really little. You probably don’t remember. It was at a birthday party for you,’ he pointed to Eden, ‘when you were just a baby,’ he said to me.”

Eden believes him and convinces Hope to climb in the back of his van with her, Hope is wary but listens to her older sister.

At thirty- five she finds out Larry is up for parole and she goes to find Eden who had withdrawn from her family after the incident.

Hope’s ex girlfriend can’t understand why she wants to search for Eden and doesn’t think highly of the actions of Hope’s parents whilst she was growing up.

“I think you and Eden were a burden to your parents because you were a burden to their identities. It’s like they had children before they knew who they were or what they wanted. Before they even thought about whether they wanted children or not. “

The attitudes of the parents in Eden frequently shocked and horrified me and often made me feel angry.

Eden was a very sad book and there was something intensely vulnerable about Hope throughout the book, a part of her that was stuck in that moment of her childhood.

Eden was a highly emotive read and one I would recommend.

The author did an amazing job of writing a story that realistically showed the ramifications that trauma can have on someone in the future. Even though these sisters suffered the same kidnapping, they dealt with it differently, which shows how two people can suffer the exact same thing and have totally different experiences after. This was a really great read!

It wasn’t my intention to read Eden by Andrea Kleine in one night but it happened. The book was so good that it was impossible to put it down.

When the main character, Hope, and her sister, Eden, were teenagers when they were kidnapped. The story shows how they have dealt with or not dealt with such a traumatic event.

Eden is no longer in contact with her family. Hope is basically failing at life – failed career, relationships, rental agreements.

The man that kidnapped the sisters is up for parole. The DA wants the sisters to provide more information on the case. If Hope can find Eden, will they testify to keep the kidnapper in jail?

I was definitely intrigued by this book and would recommend it to just about everyone, except children.

*I was given an ebook from NetGalley in exchange for doing a review. All opinions are mine. Obviously.

Hope's search for her sister Eden is told in alternating chapters about the trauma which shaped them. These sisters dealt with the kidnapping differently- sort of. Neither is living a positive life, both are searching in some way. I was amused by the commentary on the art world. It's well written and intriguing but missing a bit of heart. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

cw: transphobia, kidnapping, underage drinking, drug use

I requested this mostly on a whim and ended up being pleasantly surprised. What I liked most about it was probably that it followed the aftermath of the sisters’ kidnapping rather than focusing on the kidnapping itself. It was more of a study on how trauma impacts individuals as they age, as well as the role that relationships with others play in our lives.

The main character is a queer woman (I believe she’s a lesbian, but never drops a definitive ID) and it’s nice that it’s just sort of a fact rather than a plot point. My one issue was the way she referred to another character: as “maybe trans” and later as another character’s “girlfriend/boyfriend.” It didn’t really feel like a respectful way to portray them and rubbed me the wrong way, although I’m a cis woman and can’t speak fully to the representation.

This is a well-written book so I give it three stars for that but the story itself was choppy and felt ultimately incomplete. I felt sorry for Hope but couldn't really identify with her in any way. Eden never felt like a real character to me. The father was rather pathetic and Eden's mother was a horrible person who cared only about herself. This is definitely not a feel-good book

Thanks to NetGalley, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Andrea Kleine for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the story of Hope and Eden - two sisters raised in unusual circumstances. They have the same dad but Eden's mom left to find herself and Hope's mom raised them both. When Hope's parents divorced, the sisters traveled by bus to visit their dad every other weekend. Until he got his dates mixed up and forgot. A man in a pickup truck convinced the girls that their dad had sent him to pick them up and took them to his cabin in the woods.

Fast forward 20 years later and Hope receives a letter that their kidnapper, Larry, is up for parole. Having no real job or place to live, she decides to make it her mission to find Eden, who left the family early and no one knows where she is. The chapters alternate with Hope's road trip and the kidnapping incident.

A book about how our past defines us, this was just an average read for me. I couldn't quite connect with any of the characters too much.